Taking all factors into account, Khel Khel Mein should be looking to open in the range of Rs 6.00 to 7.00 crore on Thursday, and then hope to stay stable at the same number. Details
After a series of successful films during the Independence Day weekend, Akshay Kumar returns to his 15th August slot with the Mudassar Aziz-directed Khel Khel Mein. The film is touted to be a comic caper with an ensemble cast of Vaani Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, Taapsee Pannu, Ammy Virk, Aditya Seal and Pragya Jaiswal. Khel Khel Mein has been certified U/A by the Central Board of Film Certification, with an approved run time of 2 hours and 14 minutes (134 minutes).
The film is being released across the country by Panorama Studios and the screen count is estimated to be in the range of 1500 to 2000 in India, with a large chunk of showcasing targeted towards the multiplexes. The film is appealing to the urban audience and is facing competition from Stree 2 and Vedaa, which has curtailed the showcasing scenario, and the fight is going on in the trade for more shows, which makes the screen count dynamic at this point of time.
The advance bookings for Khel Khel Mein opened on Sunday morning on limited shows, with more of them opening up by Monday. The film has sold approximately 8000 tickets in the top 3 national chains – PVRInox and Cinepolis – for the opening day alone as on Tuesday at 5 PM. With a day and a half to go, the Akshay Kumar starrer could sell approximately 25,000 to 30,000 tickets in the national chains, leading to a release on Independence Day.
With a holiday on the day of release, it could have better than usual walk-ins, however, there is also a fractured release owing to the juggernaut of Stree 2. Taking all factors into account, Khel Khel Mein should ideally be looking to open in the range of Rs 6.00 to 7.00 crore on Thursday, and then hope to stay stable at the same number over the 5-day extended weekend period. The start will be on the lower side, and that makes it very important for the film to deliver on the content front to get some sort of theatrical run.
The advances are low, but definitely better than the industry expectations, and it’s on the momentum to build from hereon to reach the 25,000 to 30,000 pre-sales mark by Wednesday at 11.59 PM. Independence Day is among the biggest national holidays of the year, and there will be a big amount of walk-in audience in the cinema halls. With Stree 2 recording houseful boards at most properties, counter-showcasing will play a big role in deciding the second-best film of the day, as the film with better count-showcasing will get the overflow of Stree 2.
Khel Khel Mein is not getting much of a release in the single screen, which makes it heavily dependent on the national and non-national multiplex chains. With a day and a half to go, the things are heating up. Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates.
